Insurance World

Thousands of women with family histories of breast and ovarian cancer could pay higher insurance premiums or even be denied cover altogether under new proposals from the insurance industry.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) is expected to lodge an application for permission for its members to ask women whether they have been tested for the BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations.

The faulty BRCA genes are responsible for about five per cent of the 41,700 new cases of breast cancer and 10 per cent of ovarian cancers diagnosed in Britain each year.

If the insurers are granted permission by the Genetics and Insurance Committee (the organisation that advises the Government on the issue), women who have tested positive could be forced to pay higher premiums. Some companies may even refuse high value life or critical illness insurance.

A notice published on the GIC’s website said, “The Committee expects that the Association of British Insurers will submit in late 2006/2007 four revised and updated applications for the use of adverse results from predictive genetic tests of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes (breast/ovarian cancer) in helping to determine insurance premiums for life and critical illness insurance.”

At present, the only predictive genetic test the committee has allowed insurance companies to ask about is for Huntington’s Disease. This is because of the lack of environmental influences on its development.

However, across Europe, several countries have banned insurers from using genetic tests to decide premiums. Also, in 2005, a voluntary agreement to avoid using such tests by British insurance companies was extended until 2011.

Under this agreement, insurers can ask potential customers only about genetic testing results for Huntington’s Disease. However, they can only ask for the information for policies that are worth more than Ј500,000 for life insurance, more than Ј300,000 for critical illness and more than Ј30,000 a year for payment protection.

But the association’s genetics working party has indicated that it would like to bring about a change seeking permission to ask about two cancer genes and wants approval by the end of the year.

Approximately one in 850 women in Britain inherits a faulty BRCA1 gene. Those women will have a 14 to 18 per cent chance of developing breast cancer at some point in their lives.

Meanwhile insurers are not allowed to ask prospective policyholders if they have HIV, but they can ask them if they have exposed themselves to the risk of infection through unsafe sex or sharing needles.

An alliance of 45 leading charities, unions, scientists and lawyers have called on the Government to ban this genetic discrimination.

A study carried out by the charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer found 28 per cent of women with a family history of breast cancer said the would be deterred from having a genetic test if insurers had access to the results.

Life Insurance is a topic that is scarcely pleasant, but incredibly important. Individuals who find themselves in a situation where they are left without life insurance often have major financial difficulties, in addition to the mental ones they are experiencing. Life insurance is set to provide your loved ones with money needed to cover any final expenses and recover from your loss without going into debt or experiencing financial hardship.

It is difficult to say how much life insurance is enough since the ideal amount varies for each individual. Many individuals grossly underestimate the necessary amount for their life insurance and are upset at the outcome. Remember, it is always better to have too much life insurance than too little.

This life insurance acts a survivor for the family whose only bread earner dies. However it should be made sure that the amount is enough to last long and not just a year. It is advisable that the families should even pool in money for the insurance policy, as no one would want a situation like this to occur.

The best way to know the actual amount of life insurance needed is to analyze your ongoing bills and debts. Enlist all your expenses, be it the car payment, mortgage loan, credit card debt or even student loan amount. In this list of expenses make sure that you include any other expenses you think that need to be accounted for.

Many stay at home spouses make a serious mistake when they choose not to take out a life insurance policy. Just as wish a working spouse, any non working spouse should have a policy of the appropriate amount. Although you may not add monetarily to the family’s income, your services and work are extremely important. When calculating how much a non working spouse should have, be sure to estimate covering cleaning, laundry, cooking, childcare, and any other services he or she provides.

The best time to purchase life insurance is now. If you take out a life insurance while you are still young you will get a better rate than you would get at an older age. As you grow older the rates of life insurance soar. Moreover, it’s best to purchase a life insurance before you are diagnosed with any potentially harmful medical condition and be left in the cold.

Age should not be of consideration while investing in life insurance. The idea behind insurance is to shelter them from the troubles pertaining to finances. Although the loss of a loved one is irreparable, there would be one satisfaction that the family wouldn’t suffer from any financial losses. You can talk with the licensed insurance provider to assist you with the plans that are in accordance with your requirements. Thus secure the future of your loved ones by getting yourself insured.